BOSTON COLLEGE
Instructor: Dave Harker
SC072 - Inequality in America
Office: McGuinn 410A
Fall, 2009
harkerd@bc.edu
Class Meeting: Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 8:00 a.m., Gasson Hall, 301
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and by appointment –
McGuinn 410A.
This course examines class inequity in American society. It not only describes how the rich, the
poor, and the middle classes live, but also how they relate to one another. Topics include the
strategies used by the rich for maintaining the status quo, the hopes cherished by the middle class
for improving their position, and the obstacles that keep the poor in their place. Readings will
emphasize the dynamics of inequality as they intersect with class, race, and gender.
Core Course:
As a core course in sociology this course will meet the following goals:
a) Help students to ask, and answer "perennial questions"
b) Cultural diversity
c) Present an historical view of the subject
d) Demonstrate the methodology of the discipline
e) Writing component
f) Challenge students to create a personal philosophy
In this course we will study class inequality in modern American society. Because Inequality in
America is a core course, we will consider the perennial questions of social justice and
fairness that American citizens face. On the one hand, Americans strongly endorse an
egalitarian rhetoric based on meritocracy. On the other, inequalities of class, race, and gender
are significant dimensions of our society. In this course students will be helped to develop a
personal analysis and philosophy for thinking about and responding to persistent forms of
inequality. The intellectual framework for this course stresses the consequences of class
inequality - that is, the inequality that arises from the fact that some (few) people privately own
the productive forces of our society (factories, businesses, media, etc.) while most others must
sell their labor in order to survive. Within a class framework, the roles of race, religion,
ethnicity, and gender will also be considered - giving rise to an analysis that emphasizes the
culturally diverse ways inequality is experienced and resisted.
To fully address inequality through these readings, we will have to consider not only what
sociologists know, but also how they go about doing research - i.e. we will raise the
methodological question: How do we know what we know? The readings in this course use a
variety of research methods to show how the lives of the rich and the poor intertwine and shape
each other.
We will begin the course with an overview of social stratification and a historical analysis of
rising inequality in America (Categorically Unequal). Following this reading, we will turn our
attention to each economic class in our society: the owners and highly paid professionals and
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BOSTON COLLEGE
SC072 - Inequality in America
Fall, 2009
managerial employees (Richistan), middle-class white-collar employees (Keeping Up), the
working poor (Families on the Fault Line), and the impoverished (One Nation,
Underprivileged). These readings constitute a systematic comparison of various classes in
American society. They also demonstrate a variety of research strategies (surveys, participant
observation, interviewing, etc.) that have been particularly fruitful throughout the field of
sociology.
The questions to be asked about the owners are: Who are they? What percent of the population
falls in this group? How do they maintain their privileged positions? About the middle class: In
what direction does their future lie? Are they becoming more like owners or more like workers?
Can they maintain themselves indefinitely as a privileged stratum between owners and other
workers? About workers we will ask: How do they see their own experiences? What are the
achievements and discontents of their lives? Why do they accept less than their fair share of
America's great wealth? How do they try to improve their situation? Finally, we will want to find
out whether the unemployed live in a distinctive "culture of poverty" that keeps them from
participating on equal terms in society or whether some other explanation is possible for the
persistence of poverty.
Following these readings, we will conclude the course with a novel (The Tortilla Curtain) that
synthesizes many of the topics and themes addressed throughout the course. This novel deals
with issues of class, gender, ethnicity, as well as another source of inequality in our society:
citizenship status.
A schedule of assignment dates is attached below. Students will be REQUIRED to attend
classes, to participate in class discussions, and to write ten 2 page (double-spaced) papers. These
papers provide an opportunity to address and respond to the assigned readings, as well as
integrate your own personal experiences.
ABSOLUTELY NO LATE WORK WILL BE
ACCEPTED FOR CREDIT UNLESS AN EXTENSION HAS BEEN GRANTED BY ME
BEFORE THE DUE DATE OF THE ASSIGNMENT. Please note that, with ten papers, this is a
writing intensive course. Assignment sheets will be distributed separately. Your final grade will
be computed as follows:
10 essays @ 4% each
Class Participation
Mid-term Paper
Final Paper
= 40%
= 20%
= 20%
= 20%
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BOSTON COLLEGE
SC072 - Inequality in America
Fall, 2009
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a standard of utmost importance in this class. Guidelines for academic
integrity in written work are posted on the Boston College website at:
www.bc.edu/integrity
If you have any questions pertaining to the academic integrity guidelines, please come and speak
with me. If you are caught violating Boston College’s policies on academic integrity, you will
receive a failing grade for the assignment and the appropriate Dean will be notified in
accordance to the rules set forth by Boston College.
Books to Purchase:
•
Categorically Unequal – Douglas S. Massey
•
Richistan – Robert Frank
•
Falling Behind – Robert H. Frank
•
Families on the Fault Line – Lillian B. Rubin
•
One Nation, Underprivileged – Mark Robert Rank
•
The Tortilla Curtain – T.C. Boyle
Assignment Due Dates:
•
Essay #1 – Friday, September 18th
•
Essay #2 – Monday, September 28th
•
Essay #3 – Monday, October 5th
•
Essay #4 – Friday, October 16th
•
Midterm Paper – Monday, October 26th
•
Essay #5 – Friday, October 30th
•
Essay #6 – Friday, November 6th
•
Essay #7 – Monday, November 16th
•
Essay #8 – Wednesday, November 25th
•
Essay #9 – Wednesday, December 2nd
•
Essay #10 – Friday, December 10th
•
Final Paper – Friday, December 18th
Course Overview (specific reading assignments will be given in class):
I. Introduction: Overview of Social Stratification in America
Readings: Barbara Ehrenreich – “Too Poor to Make the News”
Douglas S. Massey - Categorically Unequal.
Assignments: September 18: Essay #1 due
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BOSTON COLLEGE
SC072 - Inequality in America
Fall, 2009
September 28: Essay #2 due
II. The Power Elite: Life at the Top
Readings: Robert Frank - Richistan
C.W. Mills - "The Structure of Power in American Society"
Assignments: October 5: Essay #3 due
III. The Middle Class: Keeping Up?
Readings: Robert H. Frank – Falling Behind
Assignments: October 16: Essay #4 due
October 30: Essay #5 due
IV. The Working Class: Life on the Edge
Readings: Lillian Rubin Families on the Fault Line
Assignments: November 6: Essay #6 due
November 16: Essay #7 due
V. The Poor: Poverty as a Structural Failing
Readings: Mark Robert Rank – One Nation, Underprivileged
Assignments: November 25: Essay #8 due
December 2: Essay #9 due
VI. Conclusions: Bringing it all Together
Readings: T.C. Boyle – The Tortilla Curtain
Assignments: December 11: Essay #10 due
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